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A tiny child crawled across the room, dragging his toy car along with him while making blabbering car noises only a 10 month old could make. On the couch watched his single father, admiring his son. He has the same passion he used to have, sharing the same nose and same brown hair, besides the obvious fact his son’s carried a strong curl that his father vowed to protect (he has scrolled so many Reddit threads and quora posts to find the right products and even wraps him and his baby’s heads in bonnets at night already).
The father stood up and grabbed his son, redirecting him back into the living space, sitting on the carpet and grabbing a few scattered toys and placing them in the dedicated basket he had. The baby held his car up to his dad, his other hand outstretched for a new toy.
“Which one do you want, Kimi?” the dad asked, showing him the contents of the basket while placing the car inside said basket. He watched as his son, Kimi, grabbed a new car, a Lightning McQueen car, immediately placing it in his mouth and gnawing on it. “Alright, chew on the best racer ever, I get it,” he joked, placing the box down next to him, pulling Kimi onto his lap.
The dad sighed, looking back at the celebrity cooking show on the tv, forgetting he had even turned it on. He once was asked to star on a show like this, he always had good cooking skills. Once he got pregnant, he left his career behind.
He used to be a popular model and even a rather famous chef, being able to feature in fashion shows in Milan and London, even Paris twice. He had gone to cooking events and he was on the Red Carpet, always choosing to highlight smaller designers and giving them a platform too. Unfortunately for him, he got pregnant on a one night stand while at an event in Los Angeles, so he left the spotlight to properly take care of himself and his child. He regrets leaving that life behind, but he knew it was for the best.
Grabbing the remote, he changed the show, turning on one of those dancing fruit videos on YouTube for Kimi. Kimi obviously loved it, giggling with joy while still chewing on the world’s greatest race car. Suddenly, a knock on the door startled the dad, making him forget about Kimi gnawing on McQueen. Gently, he stood up with Kimi and placed him on the couch, quickly hurrying over to the door, opening it swiftly. In front stood a short delivery man, holding a package and a little tablet.
“I need a signature,” he squeaked, surprised over who was in front of him. The father took the tablet and signed it, wondering what he had ordered that needed a signature. “Thank you, Mr. Russell,” he quickly said when he was handed the tablet back, swapping it for the box and quickly turning on his heels and marching back to his van.
The dad dipped back in his house, reading the shipping label.
Mr. George Russell
72 Shakespeare Road
Bedford
MK40 3EG
“Huh, that is indeed my name. Hey, Kimi, want to help Daddy open a package?”
Kimi loved boxes. George would always cut the tape and give the box to Kimi, leaving Kimi to scavenge around and find what's in the box. Usually, the contents were a toy or a snack for him.
George sat down next to Kimi on the couch, quickly cutting the tape with his nails that he thankfully kept rather long. Once he confirmed it was open, he handed the box to Kimi who immediately opened it and began pulling brown paper stuffing out. Inside wasn't a toy or a new squeeze pouch for Kimi though, as he frowned and pulled out a piece of paper and a yellow envelope.
“Oh, I'm sorry Kimi, I didn't know what it was. Let me read this paper, please,” he said, pulling the paper from Kimi's hand and replacing it with the slobbered-on Lighting McQueen. “Let’s see. ‘Dear Mr Russell’ blah blah, ‘request to show off a new designer’s line of clothes at the Silverstone Grand Prix this year.’ Wow.”
George stared at the paper before grabbing the yellow envelope and opening it, pulling out two plastic badges, both of which said “VIP” in bold lettering. He looked down at Kimi, who had gone right back to happily traumatizing the Cars protagonist while watching some blueberries jump over each other. George sat back and pondered, an offer to return to modeling.
Would anyone know who George even is? The delivery boy sure seems to recognize him, or maybe George is overthinking. He looked down at the box and the VIP passes in his hand, then closed his eyes and sighed, throwing his head back onto the top of the couch cushion.
There was an email on the letter. George figured he might as well ask if the designer had any baby clothing or if he could be hooked up with a second designer for that. Hopefully Kimi won't mind any of the clothes or the bulky headphones he'll have to wear.
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George parked his car in the resort home’s driveway, turning the ignition off before quickly glancing at the sleeping baby in his mirrors. It was Tuesday, and he didn't have any reason to be at the racetrack until Thursday, so he figured he'd bring an extra cot for Kimi and get him acquainted with the new scenery early.
He got out of his car, opened the door to Kimi while moving to the boot, opened it and grabbed one of the few bags of the clothes they were designated to wear. With his other hand, he grabbed the rectangular bag that contained Kimi’s travel cot. He quickly made his way to the door, using the key he was given to open it and drop the bags inside. He took a glance around the hallway, taking immediate note of the kitchenette and the dining and family rooms. Propping the door open with the cot, George turned back around and grabbed the last few of the bags, bringing them inside and leaving them with the other bag. He then returned to the car, gently closing the boot before unbuckling Kimi’s seat, grabbing the seat and lifting him out, grabbing the folded stroller on the floor as well before shutting the car door as quietly as possible.
“Hi Kimi,” George cooed once he noticed his son’s eyes looking at him, his tongue slightly sticking out for whatever reason. “Let's get you inside and some food, sounds good? Good.”
Once inside, George shut the door, dropped the stroller, and set the Kimi and the seat on the table. He unbuckled Kimi, placing the baby on the floor to roam around the new environment. Funnily enough, Kimi opted to crawl after his dad who walked towards the bags, grabbing a food pouch out for Kimi.
“Carrot and mango, your favourite,” he said, handing the pouch to Kimi. “We’ll go to a pub for dinner and get you some good food tonight,” George promised to the child who wasn't even a year old yet. Oh how George loves spoiling his son, he has enough money to do just that for years.
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Finally race day. After this, no more pouty Kimi who doesn't like his bulky headphones, no more judgy wannabes who think George has no place in the Paddock Club just because he has a child who's more behaved than theirs, no more cameras all over his child because they have just learned that he stepped away from fame to raise a kid. George kind of missed his peaceful life. The cameras and interviews were familiar, even being able to talk to Lewis Hamilton about outfits and how Lewis once wore one of his runway outfits, but George didn't like how the cameras were also on Kimi. He knew the internet, how gross it could be, and his son was too young to understand that people didn't love him, they wanted to get money, that's all paparazzis were. He did appreciate the nice woman who interviewed him for Sky who did instruct her cameraman to keep Kimi’s presence to a minimum, focusing on her and George. He forgot her name, but he’ll search her up later.
He watched as the cars prepared to launch off the line, a mimosa in his right hand and Kimi on his lap and held with his left hand. George was grateful Kimi absolutely loved the cars, distracting him from the headphones and probably the stares from the angry old people who can't understand that kids can exist in their spaces, especially when Kimi doesn't cry or scream often. Deep down, George was grateful to finally experience an actual race with professional drivers, he was always booked into a photoshoot when he wanted to go when he was a model.
The race flew by quickly, the podium celebration feeling short as well. George remembers a Dutchman took the top step, next to two fellow British drivers. He needs to refresh on his racing knowledge, he didn't recognize any of these drivers. However, he did recognize the Red Bull logo on the top driver and a woman off to the left, standing under an Austrian flag. Before George knew it, he was walking through a mainly empty paddock, heading to the exit so he could get back to his stay.
“Excuse me,” a voice called from behind. George stopped and turned, seeing a girl in a Red Bull shirt slightly jogging towards him. “I'm sorry I wanted to say hi to your baby, he's so cute,” she explained once she reached them, reaching her finger out towards Kimi who immediately laughed and grabbed her finger.
“Thank you, his name is Kimi,” George introduced, feeling a little grateful that someone wasn't waving a camera but genuinely saying hi.
“He is so cute. How old is he?”
“He's eleven months old. His birthday is in fifteen days actually.”
“Oh he's so tiny though, I thought he was younger. Can I give him a gift?”
“I don't think he'd say no to anything,” George joked, looking down at his joyous son with a smile.
“Here, follow me. You can explore our hospitality unit, and I'll grab a little teddy for him,” she explained, starting to turn towards the direction she came from. George obviously followed her, he knew Kimi knew the word “teddy” and now was expecting a bear. Once they reached the portable building, she invited George in and quickly introduced him to her coworkers, disappearing into a different room.
“Oh who's this little guy,” a different employee asked, cooing at Kimi.
“His name is Kimi.”
“Oh I love him, we should keep him,” another person joked. “He's our mascot now.”
George noticed in the corner of his eye a different gal holding a professional camera, leaving him to assume she was the social media manager. From the angle, Kimi’s face wasn't visible, which eased him a bit.
“Hey Kimi,” the first girl said as she returned, holding out a branded teddy bear. “Here ya go buddy! Happy early birthday!”
“Oooh we gotta sing!”
Next thing George knew, he was slightly bouncing Kimi, who held his teddy bear in a cuddle, as a group of random Red Bull Racing employees sang the baby happy birthday. Kimi was beaming with happiness, a group of people with all their attention on him. He was maybe too much like George already. George noticed that both Red Bull drivers were also in the group, also singing as a few different employees were recording. George will give them the benefit of the doubt, not many times are you singing happy birthday to a baby you don't know at your work place after a race win. Once they finished, they all clapped and cheered, Kimi trying his absolute best to clap as well with a bear in his grasp.
“He's a real cute kid,” one of the drivers said to George after the commotion calmed down. “You said his name is Kimi? Is his mom Finnish?”
“Ah, no,” George hesitated, looking over at the smiling child who was being held by the female member who was on the podium (George learned her name was Hannah and she was one of the most important members of the team). “He was a one night stand,” George muttered, keeping his voice low, completely unsure why he was even explaining this to someone who he didn't know.
“I see. You gave birth?”
George nodded, his ears starting to burn with embarrassment. It's the first time he's ever admitted that he was the pregnant one, a complete phenomenon never heard about.
“I think you might just be braver than all of us drivers,” the driver joked. “I'd be terrified to be pregnant.”
“It was a terrifying experience.”
“No need to be embarrassed, by the way. I'm bisexual myself, and Isack over there definitely swings both ways but doesn't label himself.”
George chuckled a bit, relief slowly coming over him. He wasn't embarrassed about being gay, but at least he was being reassured and the original issue wasn't mentioned. “If you ever have a kid, make sure you have a partner,” George said, referring to his original embarrassment. “Being a single parent is not for anyone.”
“You have my total respect,” the driver replied, reaching his hand out for a handshake. “May I call you George if you can call me Max?”
George accepted his hand, shaking it. Obviously the Dutchman's name was Max, and obviously he was the driver who won. Internally, George cursed himself for having such a weird memory.
“Only if you help me get my son into racing. He has such a love for it already.”
“I'll make sure he's the best of the best for you,” Max laughed, looking over at the kid. “You've gotta give him a few more years though, not till he's four or five.”
“I have no plans to let him do anything dangerous for a while,” George reassured. “But once he can do that I think I'll try to get back to working myself.”
“Oh, you used to be a model, yeah? Lewis mentioned you this morning while Charles, Isack, and us were sharing a coffee.”
George couldn't help but notice his weird choice of words, exhaling a breath in amusement.
“I was one of the best,” George replied. “I was also a very good chef. I got to be a judge on a show called Beat Bobby Flay and I was on Guy’s Grocery Games if you've ever heard of them.”
“I remember the first one. I thought you looked familiar.”
“You seriously recognized me from that?”
“Hey, cooking shows are interesting. Especially when the judges are chatting shit about the host,” Max shrugged, a genuine smile accompanying his words. “Also, sorry our guys are attached to your baby. It's not often we see a baby who's as tiny as him and whose parent lets us hold them.”
“Oh it's fine, he loves people.”
“I couldn't tell,” Max joked.
George laughed.
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Kimi was now twelve and already rising in the ranks of junior karting, participating in international karting races with the help of Max. George got himself back into modeling, landing a few gigs immediately and is already followed by the paparazzi often. Sometimes after one of Kimi’s races, the three will have dinner and Max will tell George about all the rumours he's heard or how Kimi did if Kimi chooses not to mention it.
To George, it felt like a little family. Max was basically Kimi’s other dad. They had similar eyes and smiles, Kimi even started to adopt Max’s humour. Part of it made George happy, Kimi has someone he really likes, but another part of it makes George’s heart hurt. He never was able to give Kimi the regular childhood of two parents who loved him, yet alone another parent. Kimi also grew up rather sheltered until he was five, George not wanting him to become some internet scandal until he was old enough to understand. He got to go to many races after the first race where they met Max, but they stayed away from the spotlight as much as possible.
Kimi loved the spotlight he had, much to the relief of George. He loved talking and joking with people, he loved to wear matching outfits with George sometimes, and he loved pictures being taken of him because he'll always ask for them and share them on social media (which Max had to convince George to let him have). Kimi never shared any feelings over not having a second parent, he probably treated Max like that second parent with the amount of times George had to witness Max buying the kid ice cream on a whim and sharing some air fried chicken nuggets when Max was in George's home (Max also spoils Kimi, George observed. Kimi is seriously the most spoiled kid in history).
“Hey, can we talk?”
George snapped out of his daydreaming, looking over at Max who stood at the doorway of the kitchen.
“Yeah, what's up?” George was concerned, but tried to hide any of it. Hearing “can we talk” is absolutely terrifying to him, he can't explain why.
“Kimi just went out to hang out with friends,” Max started, a complete opposite direction of where George thought this conversation was going. “Uhm, he did totally just ask me before he left something and I think I have to be frank with you.”
There it is. George was finished.
“I am in love with you and Kimi asked me to be his other dad.”
Oh. George was not finished. George was not expecting anything of this.
George quickly processed what he heard, and any emotions he could tap into. He always thought of Max as Kimi’s other dad, maybe because he also wanted him to be. George realized he was also most likely in love with Max.
“George?”
“I love you too!” he spluttered out, realizing he was frozen for way too long. “I love you too.”
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Image description - 7 time F1 champion Max Verstappen and supermodel husband George Russell watching their son Kimi Antonelli on the podium after his first race win